


Nixon Didn`t Join the Navy for a Reason

by fromcrossroadstoking



Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: End of War, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Heading home, Humor, winnix if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:48:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24428260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fromcrossroadstoking/pseuds/fromcrossroadstoking
Summary: Nixon does not do well on ships.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	Nixon Didn`t Join the Navy for a Reason

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the HBO War characterizations, not the actual men.

Nixon hated the goddamn ocean. Ok, maybe that wasn’t fair; the ocean was nice to look at and the sound of waves could be relaxing. Specifically, what Nix hated was being on the ocean. Boat, ship, canoe, life raft - it didn’t matter. They all made that god-awful rocking motion that made him want to hurl every last thing he had ever eaten since the age of 2.

“You okay there Lew? Looking a little green.”

Nix looked over at the man next to him with a sour look, “Yeah Dick. Doing great.”

Really, he should be doing great. The war was over and they were finally being shipped home. If only they didn’t need to be shipped home on an actual ship. Nix groaned as he tried to push back yet another wave of nausea.

“Maybe you should try lying down for a bit.”

Nix didn’t respond.

“Come on Lew. Come try to get some rest. I`ll see if I can find you some ginger ale or something.” Winters patted Nix on the back in encouragement and Nix begrudgingly began to follow Winters below deck.

Truth be told, Nix had already tried ginger ale. And rest. And seasickness pills. Air sickness pills. A whole litany of other supposed cures. Even an inordinate amount of alcohol didn’t seem to help. Nix had, at this point, surrendered to being a miserable bastard while at sea. But he followed Winters anyway. As usual.

Winters reached the bottom of the stairs first. Nix was still only halfway down (hey, he was still trying very hard to hold on to his dinner ok?) when his foot neglected to find the next step. In an instant, he was tumbling down the remainder of the metal steps towards an unforgiving metal floor.

~

Nixon felt like hell. His head was throbbing worse than any hangover he had ever had. And of course, the seasickness hadn’t had the decency to fuck off while he was out. Cracking open an eye, he spotted a familiar ginger sitting at the end of his bed. Closing his eye again, Nix let out a dramatic moan.

“Glad to see you’re still with us.”

“How long have I been out? A day? Two days? A week?”

“Well… more like a couple of hours.”

Nixon’s eyes snapped open, “Jesus Christ, I couldn’t at least be out for the rest of the damn ship ride?”

“No, sorry Lew. You’ll have to suffer through it with the rest of us.” There was a twitch of a smirk from the redhead and Nix sighed.

“Yeah, well you think I could get something for my head at least? It feels like there’s a crew of construction workers going to town in there.”

Without a word, Winters disappeared from sight, returning a a few moments later with a glass of water, a couple of pills, and a damp washcloth. He handed the water and pills to Nix who gratefully took them, handing back the glass when he was done.

Winters held out the washcloth, “For your head.”

“Thanks.” Nix laid back and pressed the washcloth against his eyes.

“You know Lew, I was thinking. About that offer of yours.”

Nixon peeled the washcloth off his face and propped himself up on his elbows to get a good look at the other man.

Winters had resumed his spot on the end of the bed, straight-backed and serious looking as always. There was a surprising amount of blood on his shirt and pants. _Head wounds really do bleed like a sonuvabitch huh?_

It occurred to Nix that Winters hadn’t left his side, hadn’t even taken a moment, to go get cleaned up. 

“Oh yeah? And, uh, just what were you thinking?”

“I was thinking that, well, I would like to take you up on that offer.”

There was a pause before Winters added, “Besides Lew, someone should be there to pick you up again the next time you get knocked down. And since I’ve already down it twice now, I might as well do it next time too.” A soft smile spread across Winters’ face and Nixon barked out a laugh.

“And what about the time after that?”

“Guess I could be there for that too.”

“I might fall down a lot. Bad luck and clumsiness and all that, you know.”

Winters chuckled and shook his head.

“Guess I’ll have to stick around for a while then. Keep an eye on you.”

“Yeah, guess you’ll have to.” Nix flashed a grin at Winters before settling back down and placing the washcloth back over his eyes. He was suddenly feeling a whole lot better. _Well, maybe not a whole lot_ , he thought as he turned just in time for the little bit of water and couple of pills to make their grand re-entrance to the world.

_Goddamn ocean._


End file.
